Luther, Conflict, and Christendom
Reformation Europe and Christianity in the West
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Published:27th Feb '20
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- Hardback£88.00(9781107197688)
Martin Luther was the subject of a religious controversy that never really came to an end. The Reformation was a controversy about him.
Martin Luther was the subject of a religious controversy that never really came to an end. This book describes the main features of 'the matter of Martin Luther' in its original environment, and it poses an argument about the contributions of the conflict over Luther to the place of religion in European and post-colonial societies today.Martin Luther - monk, priest, intellectual, or revolutionary - has been a controversial figure since the sixteenth century. Most studies of Luther stress his personality, his ideas, and his ambitions as a church reformer. In this book, Christopher Ocker brings a new perspective to this topic, arguing that the different ways people thought about Luther mattered far more than who he really was. Providing an accessible, highly contextual, and non-partisan introduction, Ocker says that religious conflict itself served as the engine of religious change. He shows that the Luther affair had a complex political anatomy which extended far beyond the borders of Germany, making the debate an international one from the very start. His study links the Reformation to pluralism within western religion and to the coexistence of religions and secularism in today's world. Luther, Conflict, and Christendom includes a detailed chronological chart.
'This is no partisan book. Readers will find themselves surprised by, and disabused of, common assumptions about the Reformation being primarily theological or populist.' P. E. Blosser, Choice
'The grand total of events, persons, writings, places, and ideas that Ocker surveys is astounding. And yet, amidst the copious details and the range of materials, the book does not leave one bewildered. Ocker manages to narrate a compelling and readable account of the controversy about Luther from Wittenberg in the early 16th century to South America in the 21st.' Jarrett A. Carty, Reading Religion
'Martin Luther is one of history's most extensively debated and studied figures. Ocker's focus is not only Luther's biography or theology. Rather, this work explores factors that contributed to the reception of Luther's teaching in both Europe and America from the era of the Reformation until the present. This book's clarity about the reception history of Luther's teaching on various levels of political contexts from nations to individuals make it important reading for both historians and theologians.' Aaron Klink, Religious Studies Review
'The book itself, in its paperback incarnation, is handsomely produced … Christopher Ocker's elegant and richly documented study also inspires a sense of déjà-vu, echoing the debates of the 1970s and '80s which pitted social historians of the Reformation against church historians …' David Bagchi, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History
ISBN: 9781316647844
Dimensions: 150mm x 230mm x 30mm
Weight: 810g
538 pages